Rule #1: Oh I'm committed. It feels so good to clear out a space and let it breathe. I want my whole house to have that vibe!!

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Rule #2: imagining my ideal lifestyle admittedly got me a little down and a little sidetracked, because I could spend hours fawning over interior design schemes that I can't afford. But the bottom line is I want a space that is cozy, feels spacious no matter the square footage, and is easy on the eyes.

Clutter makes me anxious. If my house is messy on Sunday night, I don't feel prepared for the week. I love clean surfaces, and organizing stuff I have out for use/looking at into aesthetically pleasing configurations. I'm only a fan of knick knacks and art on the walls if they have sentimental value. I kept our bedroom very minimal, so as to feel restful. The colors are mostly neutral and there is little on the walls. Nothing is in there that we don't need for sleeping/getting dressed

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Rule #3: BEFORE tidying up, you gotta get rid of anything you're not going to keep. No sense in organizing and planning storage or display for something you won't be keeping!

This is where the method for deciding what to keep or discard comes in. This is HARD. More on this later

The idea is to start with what should be easiest and wait until you're a pro to try discarding/organizing sentimental items.

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Rule #6: Ask yourself "does this spark joy"

I'm adding "is it useful" to this, because realistically, there are some things I'll need to keep that might not spark joy. Also, the mindset is not, "what am I discarding" but rather "what am I KEEPING"

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I immediately began itching to actually DO something. So without having finished the book, I dove (dived?) right in to the chapter on clothes, and got to work.

I put every single article of clothing I own on my bed, in piles by type, and went through each pile, holding every item up and attempting to register the "joy factor." I was surprised by how easy it was! There was a lot that I'd held held onto, despite not ever wearing it, because I felt I "should."

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Two hours later... I don't have a "before" pic, but here is my closet after I finished!

I discarded a HUGE box of clothes and it felt great!! Jackets are in another closet, and have a dresser that holds socks/underwear/pants/workout and sleep clothes, and that's everything. No overflow. Everything has its PLACE. Summer clothes are in a box behind this cube organizer.

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Side note: I live with a boyfriend. Who has lots of stuff. Including more clothes than I have. So my first step in convincing him to do this with me was to tell him how awesome it felt to discard all those clothes, show him how amazing my closet looks now, and offer to help him make a discard pile for HIS clothes if he wants to.

(You have to make them think it's their idea. 😏 And guess what! I think he wants to!)

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Next up is books. This one will be difficult. I KEEP BOOKS. I'm a book fiend. I'm interested in what Marie will have to say about that.

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So I tackled books. Confession: it was fairly easy because MOST of the books I own, anything I acquired from birth through undergrad, is in crates in my dad's attic, far far away from here. Hence, I didn't have to deal with them. And there are 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚 📚... since moving to Georgia I've been keeping really only a select few.

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Marie says to keep only the books that ⚡️define you. ⚡️She also says to get rid of any that you HAVENT EVEN READ YET because CHANCES ARE YOU WONT. i was not able to 100% do that, but almost all the books in my house fit on the one shelf pictured below, and I feel ok about that.

This includes my boyfriend's books as well. I sorted them into a semi-gradient order, for fun. Eliminated 3.

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A few more coffee table books, in the living room.

Eliminated one from this group.

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Cookbooks. I got rid of 3!

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Lastly, books I've received in the past two weeks, mainly from Christmas and for work. Currently on my nightstand. I'm choosing my battles.

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Given my book obsession, I think I did ok with this segment of tidying. Someday I'll buy one, tall bookshelf and all the books will be in one place, arranged in a 🌈 until that day comes, I'm content with what is :)

(My textbooks from grad school are in a box in our spare bedroom. SHHHH. I can't deal with that rn. I know I'll donate them all eventually but it's too soon.)

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PAPERS. This includes financial stuff, medical, bills, manuals, old coursework, etc. I got a little distracted because there was a lot of sentimental stuff mixed in (letters from people, and such) but I tried to put all that aside to sort through later. This category was kinda boring so I'll let the pictures do the talking. Before:

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After:

It's hard to tell, but more than half of the stuff in the before pic is gone! There's even empty space, including the top shelf of this bookcase.

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Close up of my files. All the important papers fit in ONE box.

If I can do this, so can y'all! It feels so good! I'm sending an entire trash bag full of papers to the recycling bin tomorrow.

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This next bit doesn't tackle one of Marie's categories per se, (technically, next on the list is "miscellany" which is comprised of many many smaller categories) but it does satisfy the goal of creating spaces that make you happy. AKA GUYS, I TIDIED MY BEDSIDE TABLE!

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Before: 😭😭😭

⬆️ not ok with me. Don't even really want to share it.

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After! 💗💗

Books I want to read soon. Daily necessities, grouped visually with a cute tray (watch, glasses, pen for making notes in a book I'm reading, lip balm). A soothing alarm clock. I'm working up the guts to stop using my phone as my alarm, so that I can leave it outside the bedroom at bed time. 😴

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Soooo it's been a while. Yes I've done some tidying here and there but no projects that have an immediate and gratifying visual effect. Boyfriend and I did do a THOROUGH job on our kitchen, inspired by new dishes and glasses from ikea. We gave away TONS of mismatched and underutilized kitchen items. It felt great!!

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The most recent project I finished was my bathroom

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I tackled this mess with gusto. You'll note a bag of cat litter and a can of doggie wet wipes?? Next to my toiletries, what??? And the three cube thingys are filled to the brim, though you can't tell.

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Ta da! No more pet supplies. Soooo many expired medicine and beauty products, gone. Storage cubes no longer even close to full. TBH yes I hoard lotions and soaps a little bit. But they make me happy, so 🙃

Top cube is extra lotions/soaps etc, that WILL get used. Middle cube is boyfriend's extra stuff. Bottom is the "medicine cabinet." Leopard print is travel size things, pink bag is tampons, little baggie in the middle is nail clippers, scissors, tweezers etc.

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The best part is, now there's room to display the yummy, smell good bath products in a way that truly brings joy! And that's the whole point! Every time I'm in the bathroom I get to anticipate my next luxurious bubble bath 🛀 ❤️✨